Happening now: Mobile Chowdown sizzles in West Seattle

The sun is out just in time for food-truck fans to fill two blocks of California SW in The Junction as Mobile Chowdown revs up big time. Don’t let the angle fool you – it’s not shoulder-to-shoulder, there’s elbow room – but there’s definitely a good turnout for this first-time-in-West-Seattle event. Even if you’re not sure you want to stand in line for food, the trucks themselves are worth coming to see:

The “pig truck” is Maximus Minimus, which serves pulled pork and veggie sandwiches. We peeked inside – most of these trucks have quite the kitchen:

There’s outdoor cooking going on, too:

That’s the Veraci Pizza crew. They’re on the north end of The Junction – where we also found a line that was NOT for a food truck:

Organizers say some trucks take credit cards but all PREFER cash, so come with some if you can. By the way, it’s not all full-meal deals – some trucks are more snacky:

Mobile Chowdown continues till 5; more photos to come.

6:02 PM: A few more from today – first, the crowd through a haze of cooking smoke:

Hawaiian-style plate lunches go well with the food-truck theme, and that’s what Pai’s offered:

And one last image – refresh the page for the latest view of whether California is open again (as we publish this, the barricades at SW Alaska are still up, but once they’re gone, it’s open):

Chillin October 2, 2011 (12:52 pm)

Eat b4 u get here. Lines about 40 people deep at 1245p

Sue October 2, 2011 (1:35 pm)

I would love to have seen some central place that had the menus and prices for all the trucks. Not online beforehand, but there at the Chowdown. The lines were so long at some (and this was before noon) that you could barely get to the trucks to see what they sold, and I would’ve been interested in more trucks having a “sample” size menu (like at Bite of Seattle) so I could eat at multiple trucks, not just one meal. I’d also suggest getting there sooner rather than later – one truck looked to have only 3 things on their menu, with lines through 2 of them (which I assumed meant they were sold out) and it was really early. Nice idea in general and glad the weather is great for it, but I guess it’s just not my thing, waiting on long lines so I can eat standing up in the street – but leaves more room for the rest of you. :)

smokeycretin9 October 2, 2011 (2:09 pm)

yeah, Taqueria Guaymas was insanely busy. If anything, the restaurants of The Junction did very well today. Like us, many were giving up on the lines and ate local. oh yeah, I second the motion for “sample size” plates.

KT October 2, 2011 (2:22 pm)

A fun, cool idea but not practical if you think you are hitting more than two, maybe three places. Lines are 30 to 40 minutes long and some operators just don’t have the ability to efficiently serve these crowds.

JayDee October 2, 2011 (2:28 pm)

The line for some of the trucks (notably “Where You At Matt?”) was 75 people deep. My bistro slider and fries were good and the Parfait chocolate ice cream was great and a deal. I wonder what the Junction merchants thought of this, especially the ones who sell food?

elikapeka October 2, 2011 (2:39 pm)

Yeah, we passed after we saw the lines. There just aren’t that many things left in life that I want to brave crowds and stand in lines for. :-)

I do think a sample menu would be a great idea.

But just to let you all in on a not-so-secret secret, a lot of these trucks show up for the lunch crowd at Starbucks headquarters once or twice a week if you’re down that way.

A October 2, 2011 (2:43 pm)

I have yet to hear anything positive about this. It sounds like they weren’t ready for such a big turnout. My friend went into a local establishment to eat because she said the lines were too long to wait with her kids. And when she tried after lunch for donuts she said the line was a block long, pretzels sold out. Doesn’t sound like fun to me.

Kate K October 2, 2011 (2:45 pm)

Good crowd, lots of people enjoying the good food and nice weather. Longest line I saw was for ice cream.

Would have been nice to have some seating.

jissy October 2, 2011 (2:54 pm)

We too decided to eat in one of the Junction restaurants after seeing the lines, counted 50+ in Lumpia World line and 40+ @ Beloved Mexico. Would probably brave it but without the kids next time – there’s no way they could stand in line that long.

I asked one of the organizers if they expected this kind of turnout and they said, “Kind of, but we didn’t know the Farmers Market was going on at the same time.” Truly think the weather had more to do with the great turnout than anything.

WSB October 2, 2011 (3:01 pm)

Reminder for food-truck fans, Lumpia World will be at Highland Park Improvement Club on Saturdays starting next week (11 am, 12th/Holden), with I Want Curry Now scheduled to join them (HPIC is hoping to have a regular Saturday node with multiple trucks – they’re just a few blocks east of where Zippy’s used to be), and Beloved Mexico of course is at West Seattle Produce (Fauntleroy just south of Alaska) every day (aside from special occasions like this), with Marination Mobile continuing Saturdays at 35th/Graham. – TR

Sue October 2, 2011 (2:59 pm)

I thought the same thing, Kate – when I realized I’d wait behind 50 people for food and then have to stand and eat it, it didn’t seem as appealing. I did try Molly Moon’s as the line was short at 11:30 (took a tremendously long time though considering I was second in line and they were simply scooping ice cream) – while good, I wouldn’t go seek it out again when you’ve got Husky and Full Tilt in the ‘hood (and much less expensive).

westseattledood October 2, 2011 (3:00 pm)

Just left. Informal survey of line time was 10-20 minutes at 2:30 ish. Some are longer…

Remember, HPIC is working on regular food trucks – starting this Saturday…options.

I had no issues with wandering around to check out menus at each truck. That’s just me I guess, but no expectations of a higher level of menu service cuz it isn’t a sitdown restaurant. I was just pleased a bunch of people showed up and a bunch of people were milling in and out of Junction stores and restaurants. Oh yeah – and the sun came out.

hopey October 2, 2011 (3:08 pm)

Yes, this event is not for those who are interested in fast food — patience is required.
.
Our family had a great time. Got a little bit of food at several different trucks, shared between the three of us. Time spent waiting in line was digesting food time. :) It was a lovely day and good to be outside.
.
I agree that a few more tables would’ve been nice, and the street would’ve been less crowded if some of the more popular trucks were to invest in a queue system so the line would be more compact (rather than stretching down the block.) All in all, these are minor complaints. Great event, and I hope they schedule it again next year!

Eddie October 2, 2011 (3:08 pm)

Lines Long. Nothing worth waiting that long for standing up. Wait for food at Talarico’s was nearly as long, but sitting at the bar drinking and watching the hawks seemed to take the edge off it.

sc October 2, 2011 (3:11 pm)

As for the junction merchants, at least the restaurants, they are packed! We ate at West Five and the wait staff said they were extremely busy. People who did not want to wait in line were happy to come in and sit! I also agree it would be nice to see a couple of location maps and menu’s. But all in all it was a good first effort. And the smells of the food were wonderful!

hopey October 2, 2011 (3:18 pm)

@wsdood — were you the one I spoke with who had two doodles, cream and light chocolate?

sam-c October 2, 2011 (3:25 pm)

yes, I am sure the junction businesses did well. the other half ran into husky deli to get a bottle of juice and didn’t emerge for 20-25 minutes. he said he was waiting in line behind quite a few people who ordered sandwiches. (we’ve never been able to figure out why they don’t have separate cashiers and sandwiches makers- but that is a question I’ve been wondering for a couple of years. last time i tried to buy a bottle of wine and some gnocchi there, I waited about 20 minutes while the people in front of me got sandwiches). and that is relevant how ? o yeah, being in west seattle does allow you to develop extreme patience for waiting in line. the food trucks worked for us. appetizer of poutine from skillet, great and really nicely priced food from big food, and dessert at street donuts. we did not having a problem walking the street to see the options and check the lines before we decided where to go. and we didn’t need a table at which to eat because we ate as we stood in line for the next thing. turned out the sun came out- it was great.

the lines were pretty long. I knew lumpia world would be here regularly so we skipped them and can try them next time. Marination has a place in capitol hill; judging from the line you probably could have driven there and gotten food faster than at the food truck.

alan October 2, 2011 (3:36 pm)

My wife, son and I had a very nice time at this event. We hit about 6 trucks sharing our food in 3 hours time and talked to some very nice people and saw some friends. I am very glad this event took place in West Seattle. I would have like to see more compost and recycle bins setup. Too much food waste and recyclables were overflowing garbage cans.

Neighbor October 2, 2011 (4:14 pm)

Talk about missed opportunities! NOT ONE COMPOST STATION!!! All that waste, all those trash cans overflowing. I expect better planning at events like this in the city of Seattle!

nDiZzLe October 2, 2011 (4:17 pm)

LINES LINES LINES! I could hear John Pinette in the back of my head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUlf1F05gTA The shortest line was the BBQ somethin or another brothers truck, I ordered the combo as it was explained to me that it was 1 pulled pork sand, 1 pulled chicken sand, and ribs. Paid $10 plus a tip for the karma bucket :) what I got though fit in a thing that looks like it was meant to hold a large fries LOL I got HALF of A pork sandwich and half of a chicken sandwich and it had 1 RIB! I looked up to see that on the menu they had actually erased the S from RIBS on the whiteboard menu so it would say RIB LOL. Oh well, not sure when they are shutting down but gonna go back up the hill toward closing to see if I can get anywhere near the Where Y’at New Orleans truck. Wish me luck!

here October 2, 2011 (4:47 pm)

Where Ya at Matt is always worth waiting for.

J October 2, 2011 (4:52 pm)

Smoke Shop guy out front with his cigar smoke wafting over the line = yuck. Rude, inconsiderate, and illegal.

Findlay October 2, 2011 (4:57 pm)

Always amazed by the endurance of Seattle-ites to wait in long lines for food. The food truck is today’s culinary fad that doesn’t seem to be that great of value considering the inconvenience. If anything, these foodies are getting in Disneyland line-waiting shape!

nighthawk October 2, 2011 (4:58 pm)

We stopped there shortly before 2. Wanted to hit the farmers market before it closed to get flowers but we were mostly going for food trucks. Lines were definitely insane. We took our time and when we left nearing 4 the lines were about the same.

My husband has tried some of the food trucks as they regularly come around where he works and so we were able to eliminate some based on what he knew…basically good, not worth the line for some of the trucks. We stopped and got pretzels first at pretzelwagen because our 2 year old really needed something fast.

Good pretzels, not great (husband is German so we are picky about our pretzels).

We then stopped at another truck with shorter line, they were fast because they were doing meat filled pastries. decent, nothing spectacular. Can’t remember the trucks name.

Finally ended up at BBQ brothers down by the beer garden. Again good, not great.

Since the street was all closed off, the organizers really should have gotten tables at spots along the way.

Junction businesses seemed to benefit from the overflow. Husky ice cream line was packed. I went in to buy drinks and wait wasn’t too bad, but they said they were slammed earlier.

There was a news? camera man that walked by me at one point talking on a cell phone (didn’t see what station, just noticed the big pro camera) and overheard him saying Turnout much bigger than expected. Be interesting to see if it shows up on the fluff section of the news tonight.

rick October 2, 2011 (5:01 pm)

I guess I ahould not be surprised in all of the negative comments. It’s like the weather…Seattleites either complain if it is too wet, or if it is too hot.

It was a fun experience. Yes, the lines were long, but the food was great. People, and dogs, were having a great time…well, those that just wanted to stroll and enjoy the day. I am glad my wife and I went, and we will again when VII is announced. And also, the other business prospered just fine. Business just attracts business.

WSB October 2, 2011 (5:40 pm)

UPDATE re: “when will streets reopen?” – I just remembered, we have the Junction “live” cam on the WSB Traffic page https://westseattleblog.com/west-seattle-cams – which will SHOW you if it’s still closed.
.
As of right now, still closed. Here’s the direct link to the newest image. it will NOT auto-refresh on this link, so refresh the page yourself for the latest:
http://www.seattle.gov/trafficcams/images/California_Alaska.jpg
.
TR

rw October 2, 2011 (5:01 pm)

Just got home from the Junction. Yes, the lines were incredible between 2 and 4. Very happy for the vendors, though — and for the local businesses that caught the overflow. I “settled” for a really good and hearty sampler plate from I Want Curry and my wife had a very tasty eggplant sandwich from The Bistro Box. We picked them partly for their food selections and partly because my first and second choices had lines that were out of sight. As it turned out both Bistro Box and Curry were roughly 30 minute waits. I had had planned to have a Cajun Po Boy from Where Ya At Matt, but the line was out of sight (an hour or longer, perhaps?) … and they had already run out of oysters! No complaints, though, even if a lot of the trucks were not prepared for the hungry hordes.

Kat in HighPoint October 2, 2011 (5:04 pm)

Just got back. It was amazing how many vendors were out of food by 2:30! Poor planning = lost opportunity & lost revenue. The thing that really pleased me was how many people came from outside of West Seattle. This was great publicity for our little “town” and from what I could tell, the local merchants were doing very well. Not a great event for young kids. If they’re too old for a stroller but too young to be safe on their own, it was a very boring, mind numbing, line waiting experience. After waiting at Husky Deli for ice cream, it wasn’t nearly enough to placate my daughter while I waited in line at Lumpia World. Ah, lessons learned…

john October 2, 2011 (5:18 pm)

was very fun, great environment and people watching. Seriously, do people not expect lines?
I live in Magnolia and not only did I love the food, but I discovered the street without cars and shopped at stores, hit the farmers market and now can hardly wait to go back to West Seattle.

Junctionite October 2, 2011 (5:19 pm)

I hope that the businesses making LOTS of money today werevalso responsible for cleaning up the Junction, what a mess! Nice idea, but too crowded for me.

O.D. October 2, 2011 (5:26 pm)

When will the roads be reopened?

WSB October 2, 2011 (5:33 pm)

OD – I think they have a couple hours for load-out. I’m going to go down and check at 6 pm to see how it’s going.

Aman October 2, 2011 (5:30 pm)

Nice to seee such a healthy consumer turn-out. For my money (and time), still hard to beat the chow (& service) at Circa, Fresh Bistro, Spring Hill, Buddha Ruska and other wonderful dining establishments in West Seattle. Hope the organizers & establishments are pleased with the event.

Resident3 October 2, 2011 (5:32 pm)

Hopfully these lessons were learned by the event planners,
*Centralized map w/ menu’s!
*Compost, how hard is it to have a compost bin?
*All trucks should have a ticket number system-after you pay, your ticket has a number rather than calling out names, so you know where you are in the waiting line.
Voicing this here b/c I dont see a comment section on the Chowdown web page.

O.D. October 2, 2011 (5:38 pm)

Thanks!

george October 2, 2011 (5:40 pm)

So much conflict here to answer to. Really, people. Bickiering and misinformation. There were compost stations at some trucks. Maybe not enough. But don’t go spouting that there were NONE! Lots of $5 menu items so to me, it was pretty affordable for sampling. And several trucks had sample plates. Have you been to Bite of Seattle before? You get lines when food is the main draw. What ever happened to “a line is a good thing that meant the place was popular and good”? If you wanted fast food, you should have tried MickeyD. But instead, you pout, whine, groan, complain and bitch about everything miserable, rather than celebrating a great chance to celebrate good food with friends and neighbors with the great businesses of the junction. Go find a boring restaraunt instead.

westseattledood October 2, 2011 (5:43 pm)

Hopey,

nope, wasn’t me. but i saw them! I did have my labrafoodle with me;) Over all, I’d say Doodle Tribe was well-represented! :)

george October 2, 2011 (5:50 pm)

BTW, with the parade, car show and Foodtruck events, how hard would it be to shut off parking on California in the Junction for 2 hours during the Halloween trick-or-treat? Don’t need to shut the street down, but just the parking spaces to allow the overflow sidewalks a little more space.

Dave October 2, 2011 (5:52 pm)

Great event, of course long lines, they are cooking in a tiny space. It’s nice to have an event like this in our burg.
Thanks to the organizers
Let’s do it again

hopey October 2, 2011 (6:10 pm)

The TV news guy I saw was wearing a Fox ID badge.
.
And there were a couple of spots where the city (or the Junction Association?) had put out big city bins for trash, recycling, and yes, compost. They were separate from the trucks, closer to the sidewalk.

Delridge Resident October 2, 2011 (6:21 pm)

I thought the event was great! All of the trucks had more “taster” items than I had expected. The lines allowed me to talk to my friends more and people watch, plus I could digest more between samples. I was a bit sad that a few trucks ran out of food, but there were a ton of people! Plus the sun made an appearance for most of the event.

mj October 2, 2011 (6:39 pm)

I thought it was great, worth the wait in line. Would second the comment about the cigar smoke not being cool at all…

ellenater October 2, 2011 (7:18 pm)

The lines WERE really long but it was still fun. I enjoyed some good curry and thai tacos and an excellent brat at dante’s. And then Parfait was insanely good (ice cream) as usual. I thought it was great.

I Agree with George: NO WHINING.

MousePotato October 2, 2011 (7:39 pm)

Fabulous event. Long lines, so what. Gives you a chance to chat with other WS natives. If time is a problem on a Saturday afternoon, don’t go. Drive through McDonald’s. Almost as big as the WS street fair. Please, let’s do it again! Only sadness was no Ethiopian food truck. One woman even let me examine her jambalaya and other items from the creo’ truck. Cool event, cool people.

The pig truck is the coolest thing on the planet. If they make another Mad Max movie this should be the vehicle he drives to save the world….

Amanda October 2, 2011 (7:53 pm)

Had a great time! Tables would have been nice – since I kept getting dogs in my face whilst on the curb eating. I mean – there were as many dogs as people – that was my only complaint. Can’t wait for the mini food pod at the HPIC!

MousePotato October 2, 2011 (8:01 pm)

Sorry, meant to say Sunday afternoon. And creole, not creo. lousy typing…

So happy today I laid on the sidewalk and made dust angels. Belly full. Sleeping soon.

Rosanne October 2, 2011 (8:23 pm)

America is the only country that serves street food that takes forever. Everywhere else the food is hot & ready the moment you buy it. Please don’t excuse their poor planning as “just the way it is”, food carts & trucks are meant to be fast service.

MousePotato October 2, 2011 (8:39 pm)

…And generally they are. This was an event, not a single truck parked in a cheap spot. Wow. Not sure how anyone could have been at the same event that I was and had such a lousy time.

Life must be tough for you. Hope everything works out for you.

anonymous October 2, 2011 (8:42 pm)

Many of the local businesses did not benefit from this event. Most businesses get more lookers than buyers. Retail rent prices are high in the Junction and many retailers rely on their weekend sales to pay the rent. Blocking off the streets deters regular customers from coming to the Junction for their regular shopping. The majority of these outside participants do not buy at regular retail shops and rarely come back to WS across the bridge for shopping later. Maybe some of the restaurants benefitted from the overflow traffic, but the majority of retailers did not. The Junction Association needs to assess what events most effectively support existing Junction businesses and which events might be better hosted in the free parking lots or side streets without closing off California to ensure a beneficial environment for our local shops and restaurants. Without our local businesses, we lose the character of our neighborhood. In tough economic times like these, we need to ensure we are not cutting off the lifelines of our local businesses for things like this event, a car show that is more appropriate on the Alki promenade instead of down the heart of the Junction on California Avenue, etc, etc.

catlady October 2, 2011 (8:43 pm)

We had a great time too. We made sure we went early and weren’t too bothered by the lines – we kind of knew what to expect. We tried the meat pastries (meh), pad thai, spring rolls (yum) and ice cream sandwiches at Sweet Desserts (they rocked!). I hope they come back soon. We were bummed we missed Where You At Matt, but the line was too long for us. I think we’ll follow them to Interbay.

datamuse October 2, 2011 (8:51 pm)

Sure, Roseanne, but this wasn’t really “street food” like they have in other countries. Those places are always available and pretty much everywhere, not just gathered for special events. I would love to have a street food culture here like they have in Bangkok, but we’re not there yet.

dhg October 2, 2011 (10:45 pm)

anonymous: A car show? Aren’t you a few weeks too late? Or did you just cut and paste your gripe?

Rosanne October 2, 2011 (11:01 pm)

Street food by definition is ready to eat, served in a mobile location on the street. It’s meant to be fast! Even Portland does a better job of getting the food out, their food truck scene is much farther ahead than Seattle’s.

Sonoma October 3, 2011 (2:03 am)

Actually, I expected the lines to be worse. I was there around 1:45 and didn’t have to wait more than 15-20 minutes at Sweet Treats and the fusion place. Good food, nice people, and happy vibe. And I don’t think it took away business from the regular junction shops. My friends and I all bought lattes at Uptown!

Silly Goose October 3, 2011 (8:55 am)

We loved this and hope that due to the huge turnout it will prompt the junction business council to consider doing this once a month or every other month, we arrived around 2:00 and the truck from Walla Walla was sold out of the two things we wanted to try so we wandered down to the marination Nation and waited about 15 minutes in line and the taco’s were delicious!!! The twisted sister pretzels yummy as well as the ice cream!! Great afternoon in the junction!!

gresham October 3, 2011 (9:08 am)

Had a great time. One of the things that my family and I enjoy about the Mobile Chowdowns is just finding out about a food truck that we hadn’t heard of before. My son and I eat at marination weekly, but never wait in line for it at a MCD. Instead we make it a point to try something different, and frequently the new trucks we try become weekday lunch destinations. Last time we tried Where Ya at Matt, and this time we tried Big Food and Street Donuts. Both were very good. We’d love to see a MCD in West Seattle again.

Teresa October 3, 2011 (9:20 am)

The food was good, the crowd was fantastic. I don’t go to events like this just to eat, there is an energy in the crowd that I crave. Everyone there was there to have fun, spend time with family and friends and in a good mood. We only went to two trucks, but despite the lines, my boyfriend and I enjoyed one another’s company and talked about where to find the trucks outside the event. Needless to say I traveled back to the Eastside of the state with a BBQ Pork sandwich, a Cuban, some pretzel chips, and some great memories of a beautiful day in West Seattle.

CMT October 3, 2011 (10:43 am)

I think Anonymous’ point was that, while some Junction businesses that complement the event (i.e., those that sell lattes, beer, etc.) may have benefitted, many of the Junction businesses are retail such as clothes, gifts, housewares. These count on week-end sales and an event such as this one probably seriously deterred customers from coming to their shops over the week-end. And I agree. What about moving events like these a few blocks south of the Junction where there arent’ many retail businesses.

george October 3, 2011 (1:37 pm)

Conversely, look at all the “fresh, new” customers this event brought in from outside of West Seattle. A great advertising event (free marketing at a cost of parking, and new vs. old foot traffic). I’m not sure it gets better, and its not a snapshot viewpoint. Todays loss is tomorrows gain if people come back.

MOXY October 3, 2011 (2:06 pm)

that monster eating looking food truck is sooooooooooooooooooo ugly!!!!!

biankat October 3, 2011 (2:40 pm)

A completely ‘as expected’ experience. Enjoyed items from Veraci, Maximus/Minimus, and Lumpia World. We actually used Yorder to preorder stuff from Marination Station and Lumpia World. The app worked great! But…Marination had 2 locations to order from and it wasn’t clear which one was at the Chowdown. When we went to the truck at our selected time we found out it was the wrong one. BUT, they HAPPILY returned our money. Then, we went to Lumpia World for our next Yorder. Lots of happy faces and acknowledgements of my order. Lumpia was fantastic, however the platter we ordered wasn’t right. Turns out they did a substitution, but we didn’t really want what they subbed, so again a full refund! Props to both merchants. Afterwards we got beer at A Terrible Beauty and watched the end of the Hawks game. IMO the event was a Win-Win for trucks and restaurants.

nighthawk October 3, 2011 (4:57 pm)

I always find it interesting when people complain about people writing about a negative experience (they complain about people complaining). If our experience was not all sunshine and roses are we just supposed to sit down and shut-up?

For me I post my experience as it was, I’m not going to sugar coat because that is not an honest review.

My hope is that organizers of the event will be reading this and comments and at other sources and can strive to improve the event in the future. They will see positive reviews as what they are doing right and negative ones as places where they can improve.

Also people that plan on going to one of these have a realistic idea of what to expect.

Sorry, comment time is over.